Is Kevin De Bruyne injured? Latest news on Man City star's availability for Arsenal Premier League game

Kevin De Bruyne has been with Pep Guardiola every step of the way at Manchester City.

The Belgium international arrived in Manchester in 2015, a year before his manager, and has been an integral part of every success under Guardiola.

This season has been a little different. De Bruyne suffered a serious hamstring injury during the opening game of City's Premier League title defence against Burnley in August 2023. He required surgery and was sidelined for five months.

The 32-year-old returned with a bang as he scored an equaliser and laid on Oscar Bobb's stoppage-time winner in a sensational cameo against Newcastle United in January. Remarkably, since resuming first-team action, De Bruyne has amassed 11 assists across all competitions. Only Pascal Gross (13), Bukayo Saka and Mohamed Salah (both 12) have more over the course of the whole season among Premier League players.

Unquestionably, he remains as important to City as ever, but Guardiola sought to manage De Bruyne's minutes immediately before the international break and he was not involved in Belgium's friendly draws against the Republic of Ireland and England.

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De Bruyne was substituted 21 minutes from the end of City's 1-1 draw at Liverpool on March 10 and subsequently sat out the 2-0 FA Cup quarterfinal win over Newcastle with a groin complaint.

"He already played at Anfield with some problems but he’s getting better, just not ready for tomorrow," Guardiola said on the eve of the Newcastle match. The City boss went on to thank Belgium for allowing the playmaker to sit out the March internationals.

"We spoke with Belgium and I'm grateful because he didn't feel good. He can recover for the rest of the season," he added.

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